Method and apparatus for ignition in explosive-engines.



.I H. STRINGHAM. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITION IN EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.APPLICATION FILED FEB. I4, 1913.

1,203,073. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

III/VE/I/TOR JBIIILII. 51mm MI/III A TTOR/VEV uni J OHN H. STBINGHAM, 0FJERSEY CITY, NEW J ERSEY, ASSIGNOR 0F TWO-THIBDS T0 DVIIGHT L.ELMENDORF, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

Application filed February 14, 1913. Serial No. 748,329.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN H. STRINGHAM, acitizen of the United States, residing in Jersey City, in the county ofHudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods and Apparatus for Ignition in Explosive-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for ignition inexplosive engines and comprises taking a portion of the combustionproducts of one explosion, holding the same in contact with a suitablerefractory material and then returning the same to the cylinder toignite a subsequent charge therein, together with suitable apparatus foraccomplishing this. By holding the combustion products of one explosionin contact with a suitable material and then releasing them to ignitethe next succeeding charge the best results are obtained. The materialto be employed for this purposemay' be any substance which issusceptible of being heated by the products of the combustion orcombustions and is preferably a material susceptible of withstandinghigh heat without breaking down, used in the form of pieces presentingedges and occupying a large part of the space or receptacle Within whichthe products of combustion are caught and held. Carborundum isparticularly satisfactory for this purpose, although other substances,such as, for instance, some species of lava, may be used.

In itsmostcomplete form the invention contemplates that ignition will besecured as follows: The first explosion is ignited by the use of theusual spark plug or other convenient device. Immediately after thisexplosion takes place, some of the combustion products pass in contactwith the refractory material, tending to heat it and clean out thespacein which it is contained. Then a small quantity of some of thecombustion products are caught and held in contact with the material.Finally these trapped combustion products are released to ignite thenext succeeding charge. :It is desirable to pass the combustion productsin contact with the refractory material and catch and hold them thereimmediately after the explosion while they are very hot and under highpressure and to provide a suitable nclosed space of proper character tohold them in contact with the material until they are released. It hasbeen found that a particularly satisfactory space for the purpose may beprovlded by making a chamber of some metal which retains its shape underhigh heat, packlng it with pieces of carborundum or other suitablematerial, surrounding it with asbestos or other insulator, and providingit with two passages leading, respectively, to the cylinder and exhaustor atmosphere, each passage being provided with a suitable valve,together with means properly timed for opening and closing said valvesThe invention is applicable to all kinds of explosive engines whateverthe construction or number of cylinders, but for purposes of expositionan engine of the single cylinder type (constructed along the lines ofthe wellknown Otto gas engine) is shown.

it will be understood that the accompanying drawing shows merely oneform of a specific embodiment of an apparatus illus trating theinvention and is designedmerely to make plain the nature of theinvention and a preferred way of practising it without attempting todepict many modifications and variations which will be availed of in itsapplication to the various types of engines in use.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of the cylinderhead of an engine, as,-for instance,,the Otto gas engine,

with the apparatus of my invention attached; Fig. 2 is a section on anenlarged scale along the line 2-2 of Fig. ,1; Fig. 3 is a detail of thebell crank levers hereinafter mentioned.

1 represents the cylinder headsecured to ,the cylinder of the enginethrough bolts 2,

and 3 indicates an attachment illustrating the invention arranged to beassembled in proper relation with respect to such cylinder head.

I This attachment is provided with a trap or chamber 4 connected withthe cylinder by passage 5 and either to the exhaust or atmosphere by thepassage 6, whereby some exploded gases from the cylinder may be passedthrough such chamber and some to be depressed against the tension ofspring 9 through the arm 11.

Passage 6 is controlled by the valve 12 having the stem 13 and spring 14similar in construction to valve 7 and provided also with a head 15which is "adapted to be operated through bell crank levers 16 in thesame manner that bell crank lever 11 operates the head 10 of valve 7.These levers 11 and 16 are tripping levers suitably j ournaled or hingedon the small shaft 17 and operated through cam rods 18 preferablyworking in sleeves 19. The rods and sleeves are directed toward anoperating cam shaft 20 suitably geared either to the fly-wheels or themain shaft of the engine, as preferred, andoperating in the nature of atimer or commutator whereby the valves may be accurately operated withrespect to the explosion of the engine or the revolution of thefly-wheels and shaft. This shaft 20 is provided with the cams 21 and 22of sufficient length to cause the.valves 7 and 12 to operate in suchmanner that the valve 7, controlling the inlet passage to the chamber 4,remains open until after the valve 12, controlling the exit passage 6,is closed, whereby a portion of the products of combustion may passthrough such chamber 4 and to the atmosphere or main exhaust, aspreferred, and another portion of these products of combustion may betrapped under pressure in the chamber 4-. This chamber 4 is providedwith refractory material of any substance adapted to be heated by theheat of the products of combustion. Carborundum is particularly adaptedfor the purposes in view and its use in the form of pieces having sharpedges is preferable, but the invention is not necessarily limited to theuse of said material.

23 designates pieces of carborundum retained in the chamber 4 through acasing 24: made of a heat resisting material having the perforations 25adjacent the inlet passage to the chamber and perforations 26 in linewith the exhaust passage 6.

27 designates any suitable spark plug to ignite the first charges.

Assuming my invention to be used in connection with a four-cycle engineand assuming that such engine has been started through the usual means,as, for instance, the spark plug 27 shown, the connections to such sparkplug are broken and the cam shaft 20 is thrown into gear with itsoperating member, as may be readily understood, or such camshaft may bepermanently in engagement with its operating member if desired, suchdetails being immaterial for present purposes and therefore notillustrated. Immediately upon the exploslon, the valves 7 and 12 beingopen the products of combustion from the cylinder are admitted into thechamber l, travel past the refractory material therein and past thevalve 12 to the atmosphere or to the main exhaust as desired until thevalve 12 is closed. Because of the particular arrangement of the cams onthe cam shaft, valve 12 is closed just prior to the seating of valve 7.Upon the seating of valve 7 some of the products of combustion aretrapped under explosion pressure in the chamber and are held in conactwith the refractory material. Upon the next cycle valve 7 is opened andthe gases trapped in chamber 1, being under pressure and hot areinjected into the cylinder to ignite the subsequent charge. Immediatelyafter the explosion takes place and while valve 7 is open, valve 12opens and some of the products of combustion pass through the trap asbefore stated, serving to act as a scavenging agent to eject theproducts of combustion which might possibly remain within the chamber land to increase the heat of the carborundum or other refractory materialtherein. A. small portion of the products of combustion are then trappedas above recited and the operation repeated.

The details of the invention may obviously be varied within a wide rangeand many modifications and equivalents used without departing from itsscope.

The following claims are made 1. A method of ignition in explosiveengines comprising passing a portion of the products of combustion incontact with a refractory material, holding some of the products ofcombustion in contact with said refractory material and returning someof said products of combustion to the cylinder to ignite a succeedingcharge therein.

2. A method of ignition in explosive engines comprising taking a portionof the products of combustion, holding the same in contact with arefractory material and returning the same to the cylinder to ignite thesucceeding charge.

3. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising a refractorymaterial, to gether with means for bringing and holding a portion of theproducts of combustion from the cylinder in contact with said materialand returning some of said combustion products to the cylinder to ignitethe succeeding charge.

4. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising carborundum,together with means for bringing and holding a portion of the productsof combustion from the i cylinder in contact with said carborundum andreturning some of said combustion products to the cylinder to 1gn1te thesucceeding charge.

5. An ignition devlce for explosive engines comprising a chambercontaining pieces of refractory material with sharp edges, together withmeans for bringing and holding a portion of the products of combustionfrom the cylinder in contact with said material and returning some oisaid combustion products to the cylinder to ignite the succeedingcharge.

6. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising means adapted totrap a portion of the products of combustion and to return the same tothe cylinder to ignite a succeeding charge, said means comprising achamber having perforations in the Walls thereof and a refractorysubstance in said chamber. 7

7. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising means adapted totrap a portion of the products of combustion. and to return the same tothe cylinder to ignite a succeeding charge, said means comprising achamber having heat resisting Walls and a refractory substance held inplace in said. chamber by said Walls.

8. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising a chamber, apassage leading thereto from the cylinder, a valve controlling saidpassage, a passage leading from said chamber to the atmosphere, and avalve controlling said passage, refractory material contained in saidchamber, and mecha nism arranged to open and close said valves wherebyproducts of combustion from the cylinder may be passed through saidrefractory material and whereby a portion of combustion products may beheld in contact with the refractory material and be subsequentlyreturned to the cylinder to ignite a succeeding charge.

9. An lgnition device for explosive engines comprising a chambercontaining refractory material connected With the cylinder, a valvebetween said refractory material and the cylinder, and means for openingsaid valve before the time for each explosion and closing it after eachexplosion and before exhaustion of the products of combustion from thecylinder.

10. An ignition device for explosive engines comprising a chambercontaining refractory material connected with the cylinder and with theoutside air, a valve between said refractory material and the cylinder,means for opening said valve immediately prior to the time for eachexplosion and closing it after each explosion and before exhaustion ofthe products of combustion from the cylinder, a valve between saidrefractory material and the outside air, and

means for opening said valve immediatelyafter each explosion and closingit prior to the closing of the first-mentioned valve.

11". in an ignition device for explosive engines, a chamber containingpieces of refractory material connected With the cylinder by a passagehaving its cubical contents for a given unit of length as great as thecubical contents of the portion of said chamber not occupied by saidrefractory material for the same unit of length, and a trapping valve insaid passage.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto aiiixed my signature in thepresence of Witnesses.

JOHN H. STRINGHAM.

lVitnesses HERMAN GUsroW, ALFRED M. IIOUGI-ITON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

